Now You See It (United Kingdom)


Aired
Scottish Television/ITV (1981-1986, 1993, 1994-1995)
Host
Johnny Beattie (1981-1984) Jack McLaughlin (1985-1986) Grant Stott (1993) Fred MacAulay (1994-1995)

This is chronicling the British version of Now You See It.

Game Format[]

Rules of the 1981-1986 Version[]

This version was originally hosted by Johnny Beattie from 1981 until 1984, then was replaced by Jack McLaughlin from 1985 until 1986.

Round 1[]

The show began with four new players competing against each other. The host read a series of questions. The first player to ring in would say which line the correct answer appeared on. If the correct line was given, s/he would then give the position number and the word. If the wrong line was guessed, the other player(s) got a chance to answer. If the correct position and answer was given, the player earned points equal to the sum of the line and position numbers (Example: a word on line 3 and in position 3 was worth 6 points). Otherwise, nobody scored for that word. The three players with the highest scores when time ran out won the round.

Round 2: Cryptic[]

In round two, the winners of the first round competed against each other in what's called the "Cryptic" round or "The Letter Game." A string of 16 concealed letters was shown to the contestants, and the host read a crossword-style clue. The 16 letter string began to reveal one letter at a time until a player rung in and answered correctly, or only one letter was left in the word. If a contestant rung in and gave an incorrect answer, the opponent(s) was/were given a free guess before any more letters were revealed. If they too came up with a wrong answer, the word would continue to be revealed. If nobody guessed the word with one letter left, it was revealed. The host then read another clue, and began revealing letters; the next answer used letters from the end of the previous answer in the string. The first two players to guess four words correctly won the round and advanced to the final round. In the last series, the losing player received £50.

Round 3[]

The winners of the Cryptic round competed against each other in the final round which was played the same way as the first round except that point values doubled once a player scored at least 50 points. Later the points would be doubled for every other question.

The player with the most points when time ran out became the day's winner. At first, the winner won £100. In later series, the prize money increased to £400 (£500 during the last series) for the winner and £100 for the runner-up.

Champion's Board[]

In 1985, around the time McLaughlin took over as host, a new bonus round was instituted. It worked almost like the Solo Game from the U.S. and Australian versions, only it worked a little differently.

To begin this round a new board was revealed. The winning player had two minutes (2:00) to find 7 out of 12 words on that board. All the correct words on that board fit under a specific category. Once the host read a clue to one of those words, the winning contestant called for it the same way as in the main game. The contestant had the option to pass on a question but s/he can do that no more than five times. If seven words were found before time expired, the contestant won a mystery star prize to which a clue to it was on the board.

Rules of the 1993 Version[]

In 1993 the game was played on the children's series Wemyss Bay 902101 hosted by Grant Stott. Each game pitted a team of two stars of one programme against a team of two stars from another programme. The cryptic round was played first, except that each correct answer scored two points. The second round was played exactly like the Solo Rounds from 1985–86, except that each team took one turn circling answers for 60 seconds and each correct answer scored 5 points. The third round played exactly like the first and third round of the STV series.

The 1993 children's series was played exactly like the celebrity series, with each team representing their own school. The four highest scoring teams of the series went through to the semi-finals and the series winners won a grand prize package and the runners-up in the final won a lesser prize package.

Rules of the 1994-1995 Version[]

The show later came back in 1994 until 1995 as a children's version with Fred MacAulay as the host.

Games[]

Line Games[]

The host read a clue, and the answer was revealed one letter at a time, sometimes using one or more letters of the previous word. Letters were revealed until someone buzzed in and gave the correct answer and score or if only one letter was left in the word. Each subsequent word uses one or more letters of the previous word. Each correct answer was worth two points.

Big Board[]

The host read a question and the first player to buzz in guesses the line number. If correct he/she then gives the position number and the word. Players score based on the line number & position of the first letter.

This game was played twice each round. The second Big Board game was timed; players had one minute to build up their scores by answering questions correctly. The first 30 seconds offered single points while the last 30 offered double the points.

Format[]

The match is divided into three rounds. The first round was played by two boys and the second round was played by two girls. The winners of the first two rounds went on to play round three for the right to play the "Super Board Round" for a star prize.

Super Board[]

To start, the winner of the match was given a choice of two prizes to play for. Once a star prize was selected, a new board was revealed. The winning kid had 60 seconds to find seven out of ten words on that board. Once the host read a clue to one of those words, the contestant used an electronic pencil to circle the word that was being guessed and call it out. The contestant had the option to pass at any time and return to that question later. If seven words were found before time expired, the contestant won the selected prize.